'This is bigger': Swans, Giants final another showcase for AFL in Sydney

This is a golden era for the game in Sydney. To have both teams playing in the finals for the third year running and in another September derby reflects this.

In the 24 seasons in which there have been a two-team state outside of Victoria only once before, in 2001-03, have both clubs in the same market made the finals three years running.

The Swans and the Giants played a brutal qualifying final in 2016.Credit:AFL Media

That the second occurrence should come in a non-traditional football state speaks volumes about how the two Sydney teams have managed their lists, though many in Victoria still say it is more to do with the generous draft concessions handed to the Giants.

For all the visits players make to clubs and schools in terms of growing the game in NSW there is no substitute for the Swans and the Giants going head-to-head in a final.

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"You can invest a lot of money in marketing and development, the best marketing of all is a game like this," Giants chief executive David Matthews says. "I don't know how you quantify it, it's put the game of AFL front and square for the last couple of weeks."

Saturday's final will be the second meeting between the Swans and Giants in September. The first was one of the most brutal finals seen in the AFL era. Blood was spilt, bones broken and a rivalry became real.

"History shows around the world the strength of derbies," Swans chief Andrew Ireland says. "It hasn't taken very long for the Swans-Giants derby to become a mainstream big game with plenty of passion."

Before that, Matthews concedes, it had been "manufactured". The Giants were the team of loud-mouthed youngsters happy to tell you how good they would be despite being the easybeats of the competition.

That was part immaturity and, Ireland says, part the influence of foundation coach Kevin Sheedy, who was big on his players not allowing themselves to be bullied by their opponents as seen in his pre-game address before the Giants' inaugural match in 2012 when he ordered them to not "EVER let any player or club DOMINATE you".

The 2016 final proved emphatically that the Giants could let their football do the talking. Not only did they beat the Swans at their own game, they shocked them with their physicality.

Kurt Tippett was crunched in a tackle by Shane Mumford and had his jaw broken accidentally in another contest. Franklin and Steve Johnson traded barbs, though must have wanted to trade blows instead.

The Giants were also prepared to cross the metaphorical line to flex their muscle. Josh Kennedy was felled by Johnson, who was suspended. Franklin was also taunted about his mental health by Mumford, who later apologised. Mumford has since retired and Johnson is now in the red and white.

"You have to have some authenticity to it [the rivalry], that's what it's got now."

Josh Kennedy after being shirtfronted by Steve Johnson in the 2016 qualifying final.Credit:Michael Willson/AFL Media

As fierce as the competition is out on the field, the Giants acknowledge how the Swans' three decades of hard work in Sydney helped provide the blueprint for the league's newest team. Matthews unashamedly says they want to be like the Swans.

"Absolutely that's the aspiration we want to have - sustainable success," Matthews says. "We don't develop our strategy plans on any other basis than making sure we have a football model that underpins sustained success and giving ourselves the best chance of winning a premiership. That's in the men's and women's. We want to deliver for our fans winning footy teams.

"I have a lot of admiration in the Swans' ability to defy gravity and continue to play in finals series and manage their list in a way that has kept them competing year in, year out.

"In such a competitive market, you have to be winning. Winning is very important."

Ireland says this is a crucial time for the code in NSW. The two clubs have long-held views the marketing of the game is too Victorian-centric but the AFL is now listening. The campaigns featuring Dema, a former refugee and young Muslim from western Sydney, and Swans defender Aliir Aliir have resonated more strongly in this market.

"It is a bit of a golden period," Ireland says. "One of the things we spoke to the AFL Commission about 18 months ago when you're trying to grow and market the game and the grass roots you need to capitalise on periods when teams are going strong.

"It's tough to market a sport when the teams aren't going so well. It is a really important period for the code and an important chance to capitalise."

Matthews, a former head of game development for the league, regards the 2016 final as the most significant day for the code in NSW - until now.

"In many ways this is bigger because of the knockout nature of it," Matthews says.

"To play them in the first finals series and to beat them in front of 60,000 at ANZ that's one of the best showcases AFL's had in Sydney and this will be as well."